Two-time Pro Bowl guard Davin Joseph was carted off the field during
Friday night's 30-28 preseason victory with what appeared to be a
serious right knee injury, although coach Greg Schiano said the extent
of the damage will not be known until the seventh-year pro is
re-evaluated Saturday.

The injury overshadowed a strong performance against Brady, who had an
interception returned for a touchdown and was sacked twice by a defense
that had one of the NFL's most anemic pass rushes last season.

New England coach Bill Belichick said the game showed the Patriots
still have work to do to get ready for the regular season. It wasn't
clear if that includes more playing time for Brady.

''We obviously got off to a slow start but played a little bit better
in the second half,'' Brady said. ''But we really need to string it
together for four quarters in order to beat good teams on the road.''

Belichick said ''we'll worry about next week, next week'' when asked
about how much he expects Brady to play in Wednesday's exhibition
finale against the New York Giants.

Brady wasn't saying if he'd lobby for more playing time.

''Whatever coach decides. ... He's the one that makes all the
decisions, so we'll just listen to what he has to say,'' Brady said.
''And if he says play, we're going to play.''

Barron intercepted a pass tipped by Ronde Barber and returned it 22
yards for a first-quarter TD. Martin scored on a 1-yard run that
finished a game-opening drive led by Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman.

Brady played three quarters in his most extensive action of the
preseason, but didn't really get the Patriots' offense on track until
after Tampa Bay built a 23-7 lead. He finished on a high note, though,
throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski on his final play.

''I think it was pretty obvious that we've got a lot of work to do.
We've got a long way to go. We didn't perform, I think, to what the
level we need to at any area,'' Belichick said. ''When you can't score
offensively and give up a lot of points on defense, nobody can make any
plays in the kicking game, then you don't have a real good chance to
win. And that's pretty much the way it was tonight.''

Freeman played into the third quarter, finishing 10 of 19 for 102
yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Connor Barth kicked a
56-yard field goal and Kai Forbath added field goals of 51 and 55 yards
before Freeman's backup, Dan Orlovsky, tossed an 8-yard scoring pass to
Sammie Stroughter in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots (No. 2 in the AP Pro32) traveled to Florida early in the
week to practice with the Bucs (No. 26) twice in preparation for Friday
- workouts that Schiano felt would be especially beneficial to his
players because of what they could learn from being on the field with
Brady and other veterans who have been vital to New England's success.

Freeman completed passes of 25, 14 and 10 yards to Vincent Jackson on
an eight-play, 68-yard drive that Martin finished with a 1-yard TD run.
Barron's interception return - one play after Michael Bennett sacked
Brady for an 8-yard loss to the New England 7 - made it 14-0 late in
the opening quarter.

Brady threw seven passes in New England's preseason opener against New Orleans, then sat out the Patriots' second exhibition against
Philadelphia. In what likely will be the most playing time he'll get
before the regular season, the two-time Super Bowl MVP completed 13 of
20 passes for 127 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Bucs, last in the league in sacks with 23 last season, dropped
Brady twice and pressured him into bad throws on at least three other
occasions.

Brady directed one scoring drive in the opening half, completing three
of four passes for 29 yards on a 12-play, 81-yard march extended by a
pass interference penalty on Barber and featuring a 29-yard run by
Stevan Ridley. Ridley finished the drive with a 1-yard run, then also
played a prominent role in the final possession led by Brady.

Ryan Mallett threw a pair of TD passes in the final five minutes to
make it close at the end.

Barron and Martin are a pair of rookies Schiano is counting on to help
Tampa Bay rebound from a disappointing 4-12 finish a year ago.

Barron was the seventh pick in this year's draft, and the former
Alabama safety was brought in to bolster a defense that yielded a
franchise-record 494 points last season. Martin was the 31st pick
overall, and is bidding to become the starting running back.

''Mark played faster this week. He looked more confident in what he was
doing. That's what rookies do. They learn and they get better,''
Schiano said.

''Going against the competition he did in practice this week, I think
it got more comfortable for him,'' the coach added. ''Now he needs to
get that much more comfortable as we get ready for the regular season.''